major sectors were weaker, led by losses in the industrial, energy and materials sectors. amazon shares were in focus after last night's quarterly results included higher gross profit margins, encouraging it's investors. shares gained 4.8% as volume quadrupled. even though its earnings and outlook were weaker than expected several analysts increased their price targets for the stock, expecting profit margins to continue to improve. after hanging on through controversies over heavy spending and his personal business, chesapeake energy c.e.o. aubrey mcclendon will step down. on april first he will leave the executive office of the energy company he founded in 1989. the scrutiny of mcclendon picked up last year over a potential conflict of interest. he borrowed money to pay for his personal stake in chesapeake energy wells. some of those loans reportedly came from parties that also were doing business with chesapeake. in addition, the company has about $16 billion in debt, which it has pledged to almost cut in half. shares jumped 6% on the news of mcclendon's exit, rising to their highest

respectively. but toyota jumped 2.9% to a new 52 week high. meantime, two energy giants reported strong fourth quarter profits. exxon earnings were 20 cents per share above estimates even though energy production dropped. chevron also had better than expected fourth quarter earnings per share, 24 cents above estimates. it was helped by refining cheaper oil, leading to higher profit margins. chevron shares saw the bigger boost, up 1.2%. exxon gained a fraction. four of the five most actively traded exchange traded funds were up. the s&p 500 volatility note fell more than 5%, as it usually moves in the opposite direction of the market. and that's tonight's market focus. >> tom: despite the rise in the unemployment rate in january, our friday market monitor thinks the u.s. economy is gaining strength. heather brilliant is the global equity research director morningstar. heather is with us from chicago. still tepid job growth here, healther so what gives you confidence that not only is the economy growth but strength is gathering momentum? >> i think there is a lot of improvement on the manufactur

billion traded on the nasdaq. the energy sector powered the gains, up 1.6%, followed by the telecommunications and the health care sectors. independent oil refiner valero led the energy sector thanks to its latest quarterly earnings, hitting a seven-year high. valero is one of those refiners benefiting from the increase in u.s. oil production, allowing it to use cheaper north american petroleum instead of importing more expensive oil. shares shot up 12.8% as volume more than tripled. the switch to lighter u.s. crude oil allowed valero to earn more than $12 per barrel of oil it processed, more than double a year ago. fellow refiner hess was up 9% to an 18-month high, continuing the rally sparked yesterday as the company announced plans to spin off its refining business to focus on exploration and production. an activist investor is pushing for even more spin-offs at hess. drug maker pfizer helped the health care sector move up today even as it continues to see sales hurt by generic drug competition. pfizer earned 47 cents per share. while down from a year ago, it was a

board. 2.2 billion moved on the nasdaq. the materials sector was the weakest, falling 0.9%. the energy and conmer discretionary sectors dropped 0.5% each. dow chemical was in focus among material stocks. it wants to save two and a half billion dollars as it wrestles with weak demand out of europe, and a slowdown in revenues across all its divisions except for its ag business. stripping out the restructuring costs and one-tme items, earnings per share were up from last year, but a penny less than estimates. the steepest revenue drop came in dow's performance materials business, producing solvents and polyurethanes. the stock fell 7% on heavy volume. is is its lest price since late december. while the company is cautious, it said chinese demand is improving, and it sees encouraging trends with its u.s. customers. murphy oil's disappointing outlook hit its stock today, sending shares down from an 11 month high. the stock fell 5.3%. murphy is in the midst of splitting off its oil refining and distribution business in order to concentrate on exploration and production. as darren reported at

. >> there is no reason that the jobs of thousands of americans who work in national security or education or clean energy, not to mention the growth of the entire economy, should be put in jeopardy just because folks in washington couldn't come together to eliminate a few special interest tax loopholes. >> reporter: republicans dismissed the calls for more tax increases, and many argue the threat of the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester are the only way to force democrats to accept more spending cuts. but their leverage may be limited. >> i think we will have the sequester for a short period of time, probably until the first civilian employee of the government is furloughed, which might take about a week. and then, that pain may be enough to cause the people on capitol hill and the president to come to some sort of rational deal. >> reporter: the short-term budget fight comes as the medium-term outlook for federal red ink is improving. the congressional budget office figures the deficit will come in at $845 billion this year, the first deficit under $1 trillion since 2008. that's projected t

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